In New Social Networks, Anonymity Is All The Rage

When mobile social app Yik Yak swept into Auburn University, some of the coolest kids were quick to start posting on it.

But no one knows who is saying what because the comments are anonymous.

“It spread pretty fast,” says Nickolaus Hines, a junior at the school in the US state of Alabama.

“The majority of things are jokes or things which are obviously funny,” said the 21-year-old. But “some … are pretty mean.”

Yik Yak, which allows smartphone users to see posts in a radius up to five miles (eight kilometers), is part of a flurry of new apps that offer novel ways to interact on social networks without revealing one’s identity.

But while some laud these new platforms, others blame them for false rumors, stress and even suicide.